Never Thought I'd See You Again
by Writerwithagoal
Summary: Caroline is working as a curator at a local gallery and Klaus is getting his post grad in Fine Arts at the local University. Paths Cross again when a certain painting catches Caroline's eye in a coffee shop.


Caroline was busy typing on her phone and working to finish the final preparations on the new exhibit that was going up in the art museum down the street when she'd been struck with just how little sleep she'd been getting. Caroline was a perfectionist in all things which caused her to work long hours and around the clock without blinking.

Currently she was standing in the coffee shop that was closest to the museum because she couldn't bring herself to go too far away from her baby. She was frantic because the introductory artist had just, in fact, pulled from the exhibit. Knowing that she had to fix this when she got back to the office; sighing she tapped her finger against the side of her phone and looked around the café, which was busier than she thought fair as it was 3 in the afternoon.

A painting on the wall caught her eye and she made a mental note to ask the employee at the counter. The painting was bright and eye grabbing, but there was a touch of sadness to it that tugged at the back of her mind. Sighing she checked her phone again to see if her assistant Elena had placated the young woman who was currently causing a migraine to form in her brain. Checking, that she didn't have anything new from Elena, she tried to focus on destressing before the migraine fully bloomed.

As the line finally started to move she switched from obsessively checking her phone to checking her nails and mentally listing what she had to do to stay on track and get the exhibit ready by Friday night. This satisfied her need to do something as she waited in the infuriating line. Finally, she was at the front of the line and she smiled at the man behind the counter.

"Hi, I would like one large Red Eye with a double shot."

"Late night today or yesterday," the guy asked smirking at her and Caroline smirked and shrugged.

"I was also wondering if you knew who painted the piece that you have hanging in your café?" she asked ignoring his question.

"Huh, that old thing? Why are you interested in that piece?" he asked pausing as he rang her up. Thankfully she was the last one in line so he could take his time.

"I'm interested because I would like to display it in an exhibit this upcoming Friday and any others the artist might have that are show quality." She said matter of factly.

The guy stared at her not moving and Caroline pulled her phone checking to see if she had something on her face.

"You-you want to show that piece in a gallery?" he choked out, looking at her, eyes wide as she nodded slowly.

"That is what I said, which is why I asked if you knew who the painter is," she repeated slower this time, eyebrow raising, not quite understanding the reaction she was getting from the employee.

He must have seen her confusion and started to laugh. "I'm sorry I don't mean to freak you out, it's just that my coworker painted that back in art school, when his professor told him that you couldn't convey sadness in a bright image," he paused when Caroline continued to look unimpressed with this story. "Well he got an F for the work he put into it, so we all assumed that it wasn't actually very good."

Now understanding why her request would startle the employee, she shrugged and looked back at the image. "Well I've been working in galleries and in the art world for almost six years and this piece speaks to me in a way that no other has. If he would like his artwork to be shown in the gallery opening this Friday, I'm going to need to speak with him." She said slowly, handing the guy her corporate card.

Taking it the guy nodded and then smiled at her, "So are you single?" she raised an eyebrow and took her coffee.

"Seriously? Just have your coworker call me." Turning, she exited the coffee shop sipping her black coffee as she walked through the street back to her office.

Klaus came sprinting into work, he was almost late. Marcel glanced up at him and chuckled, going back to cleaning the espresso machine he continued to laugh. Klaus scowled and ducked into the back room grabbing his time card and punching in. He and Marcel had been best friends since their undergraduate when he was placed in the political science lecture as an elective and Marcel had taken pity on him. Now both were getting their masters at the same university, Marcel in Political Science and himself in Fine Art.

As he tied his apron around his waist in a careless flourish that allowed the apron to sag on his hips, he washed his hands quickly and ducked back out behind the counter. Glancing at his best friend, he grew suspicious. Marcel was never this excited to see him after working a four-hour shift alone. Normally he got bitched out about abandoning him to the cruelty of caffeine deprived individuals. Right now, though, Marcel was holding something in his hand and grinning at him.

"How was your day?" Marcel asked conversationally, holding the small piece of paper in his fingers.

"Rather shit. Tatia called again to tell me that she's sorry that she slept with Elijah, Elijah called to apologize for getting caught with my ex, my professors are hounding me for a gallery entry by Christmas, and I can't get anyone to return my emails about gallery openings," Klaus said jamming the portafilter into the machine that Marcel had just cleaned.

"So you'd take any gallery slot at this point, since it's three weeks 'til Christmas?" Marcel asked, slowly testing the waters of Klaus' desperation.

"As long as they aren't looking for sculptures, yea I don't see why not." Klaus said looking at Marcel with a raised eyebrow. "Why? What have you heard?"

"Just that there was this really hot blonde who came in asking about your painting and if I knew the artist. She wants to hang your work in a gallery opening this Friday," Marcel said smugly holding out a card with a simple design in the top right corner. "She seemed really eager to talk to you, in particular she wants to show the one we hang here in the store."

Klaus was staring at Marcel at him in complete shock. Putting down his freshly brewed cup of coffee, he took the card from Marcel and looked at it.

~Caroline Forbes: Curator and Dealer at The Falls Gallery~

Carolineforbes

314-454-2000

Caroline was looking at her laptop, trying to find other candidates to replace Katherine Pierce, when her secretary Elena burst into her office, her eyes wide and her hands shaking. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at her best friend and employee in confusion.  
"Everything alright there, Elena?"

"Remember that guy who you slept with senior year at the party, but you never got his number?" Elena said slowly, looking at her best friend her eyes searching her face for any sign that Caroline didn't care about the one who got away. Caroline raised an eyebrow; almost five years later she hadn't really thought about the guy whose apartment she'd snuck out of the last morning of senior year of college.

"Yea what about him? It's not like he's here," she trailed off her eyes widening as she jumped up around her desk and peeked out her door before pulling her head back in and looking at Elena in shock.  
"Mystery guy is standing in the gallery, with a painting. Why is he standing with a painting?!" she turned to Elena, checking her hair and her outfit in her mirror behind her secretary.  
"He said that you asked to see him, how did you not know it was him if you wanted to see him?!" Elena hissed back giving Caroline a thumbs up.

"Oh my god, he painted the picture at the coffee shop!" Caroline could smack herself in the head, except she might ruin her makeup or her hair.

"Wait, he's the guy who you were hoping would come in?!" Elena said still confused, Caroline rolled her eyes at Elena's question.

"Obviously I wasn't aware that it was him."  
"Oh.."

Ignoring Elena, Caroline opened her office door and walked out into the main gallery her heels clicking on the marble floor. Smiling at the man who she still sometimes had a fantasy about, she held out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Caroline Forbes. I'm the curator for the upcoming opening, I was told that you had some paintings for me to see."

Klaus turned and his gut clenched. Standing in front of him was the angel that he'd thought he'd imagined at this point. They'd had a fantastic night together almost five years ago. Clearing his throat, he nodded and smiled back at her.

"The pleasure is all mine; I was actually told that you'd requested my painting for the opening. My coworker told me that you were interested in it and my other works. Oh, I'm Klaus Mikaelson. I'm getting my Masters in Fine Art at Mystic Falls Arts College." His voice was still smooth and British like she remembered. Nodding, she gestured to the painting in his hands.

"I'm assuming if you're here that you want to take me up on my offer to show your work," she said, trying to clamp down on the butterflies in her gut.

"I am beyond grateful for the opportunity that you're giving me here. I have more pieces in the boot of my car if you want to see any more."

"Oh, of course. Let's bring them in and we can decide which ones are best for the installation." She gestured for Klaus to lead the way to his car after showing him where he could place the one in his arms.

Forty minutes later, after bringing ten other paintings in and laying them against the wall, she smiled at him, the initial nerves seeming to have disappeared. As he took off the paper wrappings keeping his work safe she gasped. The second piece was a blonde girl with her face hidden from view but the simple double star tattoo between the collarbones was there. The woman was looking out a window and half draped in a sheet, the sun creating an almost halo in the gold of the paint.

"You painted me…" she said softly, looking at the man in front of her.

"Well, you were gone when I got back with bagels. You haunted me for a while and I'm an artist so it showed in my artwork," He said softly, looking at her anxiously. "None of the ones show your face. I was worried I wouldn't get it right, so I never painted it."

"I'm sorry I left, but I woke up with no note and no idea where I was. I figured the best thing to do was to leave and hope I saw you again before we graduated. Obviously that didn't happen." Caroline could feel her cheeks blushing and one look at him proved that he was feeling just as embarrassed.

Clearing her throat after a moment of silence as she looked over the various pieces. Only one other one was of her, the second one of her was her tangled in the sheets of a bed, but tastefully covered. Again he'd hidden her face.

"I think that all of these will work perfectly. I even think that I'll be able to sell a couple of them. You certainly have a talent Mr. Mikaelson, I'm glad I scooped you up first."

"Really, thank you very much for taking an interest in my art work in the first place Ms. Forbes."

"You can call me Caroline. After all we've seen each other naked before."

"Well then I insist that you call me Klaus."


End file.
